The invention relates to a contoured frame member for bodies of motor vehicles as well as to a car body part and to a method.
The DE 195 46 352 A1 discloses contoured frame members for vehicle bodies, for which a cavity, bounded by the contoured frame member, is filled up with an aluminum foam material and thereby stiffened. For this purpose, either the aluminum foam material is poured as a melt into the cavity formed by the contoured frame member and foamed in this or the foaming process is carried out to begin with outside of the contoured frame member and a piece of suitable size is cut out of the block of foam material for use in the contoured frame member.
However, the foaming of a melt in the contoured frame member requires that this component, which must be closed off at least at one end for the pouring, has to be in a position suitable for this purpose. Filling an already installed contoured frame member or one, which has been preinstalled in a component, with aluminum foam in the running production process is not possible with this method.
Mounting premanufactured aluminum foam blocks, which form a solid body, in the contoured frame member requires first of all that these blocks be trimmed to fit accurately. Consequently, only simple shapes, such as square contours, come into consideration. In addition, moreover, the foam blocks must be fixed in the contoured frame member, which makes the installation more expensive and increases the weight.